Ernesto not expected to ruin Labor Day — Tourism leaders in the Carolinas are confident Tropical Depression Ernesto will slosh through without dampening the long weekend which traditionally marks the end of the summer season. (AP)

NTSB: Controller slept only two hours — The lone air traffic controller on duty the morning Comair Flight 5191 crashed had only two hours of sleep before starting work on the overnight shift, a federal investigator said Wednesday. (USA Today)

Do dead passengers get refunds? — When a friend dies suddenly, Bari Sedar takes on the task of dealing with airline tickets issued in the friendâ€™s name. The tickets were purchased through Priceline, whose terms and conditions clearly state that they are nonrefundable and nonchangeable. Is there an exception for death? (Christopher Elliott on Tripso)

Pilot locked out of cockpit during flight — The pilot of a Canadian airliner who went to the washroom during a flight found himself locked out of the cockpit, forcing the crew to remove the door from its hinges to let him back in, the airline said on Wednesday. (Reuters)

JetBlue helps lift airport traffic in Richmond — Richmond International Airport had its best-ever July — 302,098 passengers boarded or deplaned there, compared with 272,899 in July 2005, according to a monthly report by airport officials. For 2006 so far, the airport’s passenger traffic is up nearly 15 percent. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

New York to L.A. in two hours — A new generation of supersonic private jets could trigger a boom in luxury high-speed flight — without the sonic boom normally associated with breaking the sound barrier. (Wired News)

What’s the big idea?

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